ICE Mistakenly Deports Trump’s Longtime Employee

United States — Alejandro Juárez, a 39-year-old Mexican immigrant, worked for more than a decade as a waiter and kitchen assistant at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in New York. During that time, he occasionally served at Donald Trump's table. His life in the United States ended abruptly in September 2025 when he was detained and deported to Mexico without a judicial hearing, according to a report by The New York Times.

On September 15, Alejandro Juárez attended a check-in appointment with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Days later, he was transferred from a detention center in Manhattan to Texas and subsequently taken to the border bridge connecting with Mexico. At that moment, he asked the agents for an explanation, and they responded that they were following orders.

An Admitted Error

Officials from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later acknowledged that Juárez was deported by mistake. According to documents cited by The New York Times, the Mexican national was "placed on the wrong transport" and sent to Mexico instead of to a detention center in Arizona.

His lawyer, Aníbal Romero, stated that he had never seen a similar case in twenty years of legal practice. When he attended his client's scheduled hearing, the court was unaware of his whereabouts. Juárez called from Matamoros to report that he was already in Mexican territory.

Family Consequences and Official Response

The deportation deeply affected his family in Westchester. His wife, María Priego, was left in charge of their four children, all of whom are U.S. citizens, with one serving as a U.S. Marine. "My children ask me when I will return," Juárez told The New York Times from Puebla, his hometown.

The DHS reported that it would facilitate his return to the United States only to place him back into ICE custody. The agency indicated that the deportation process will continue and that Juárez will not be permitted to remain in the country. His lawyer is seeking a special exemption due to his connection to an active-duty military member.

Pattern of Employment and Vulnerability

Juárez's case is part of a broader pattern of undocumented workers employed by the Trump Organization. In 2019, during Trump's first presidential term, Juárez was fired along with other employees without legal documentation. Among them was Victorina Morales, from Guatemala, who reported in 2018 that Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, hired undocumented migrants and that some supervisors even facilitated false documents. Also, Sandra Díaz, from Costa Rica, worked at the same club and joined Morales in publicly denouncing these labor practices.

Errors and Institutional Pressure

According to The New York Times investigation, ICE does not maintain records on how many people have been erroneously deported. Kerry Doyle, a former senior attorney for the agency during the Joe Biden administration, explained that the volume of detentions and the workload of staff increase the risk of mistakes.

The case of Juárez illustrates this vulnerability: a worker who served one of the country's most influential figures was expelled without being able to defend himself. Experts warn that with the increase in detentions, errors like this could be repeated more frequently.